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Working Abroad??

Hi,

I've been thinking about what I want to do with my life...

I don't want to stay in the UK and live my own little life, I want to go out into the world and make a difference!

Like the gap year programmes you can do, I would like to go and teach English/other subjects, or work in an orphanage, in a country where schooling etc. is not a given...

How can I get into this type of work? Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Reply 1

Alian

www.gapyearjobs.co.uk

this one has a lot of links + ideas

Reply 2

username405416

The only problem with doing that kinda work on a gap year is that it's really expensive! And a lot of the money is kept as profit by companies which organise for gap year students to have these experiences. This is just my opinion, but from doing the research (i was considering doing a similar thing over the summer), it's probably better to do volunteer work abroad after you graduate. Then you can go with a charity such as Oxfam or Save the Children. You get proper training, you're more likely to do hands on work which makes a real difference, and you know that any money you do have to provide isn't going into some company's back pocket

Reply 3

BUNAC

Original post by ShengXin

Our volunteer programmes start from £299 for three months. Because you're interested in teaching English abroad, you may be especially interested in Volunteer Cambodia and Volunteer Ghana which give you the chance to live and teach in the country for 2-3 months from just £84 per week including food and accommodation www.bunacvolunteer.org

All volunteers go through a full orientation before leaving the UK to ensure they are completely ready for the experience and know what to expect. Seeing poverty first hand is not always easy and is not for everyone. It can however be one of the most rewarding things you do and may help you to decide what you want to do career-wise when you return.

Original post by hattikins

I agree that volunteering abroad can be expensive. The majority of gap year organisations are profit-based too, which means that their aim is to make money, rather than to make a real difference in disadvantaged communities in the developing world.
The difference of volunteering with BUNAC is that we are a non-profit organisation. This means that our fees are a lot lower and are purely to cover the cost of running the programmes. On average 75% of the cost of our volunteer programmes go towards the developing world. All volunteers have orientation and training before starting at any projects to ensure that they are fully prepared for the experience.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 4

JedMosely

One programme you may want to consider is the new ICS programme at Restless Development, if you're between 18 and 22. It's a shorter 12 week programme in Africa and India, but the wider organisation does do longer programmes that might be of interest to you as well! I've applied to be a "leader" on one of their ICS programmes as its the only option available to old-fogeys of 24 such as myself :P

Reply 5

beefmaster

Original post by ShengXin

I work abroad for an NGO following my undergraduate degree.

Personally I would not do one of those gap year programmes. If you are very interested in helping abroad then please don't pay these gap year companies hundreds or thousands of pounds for the 'experience'. What might be a nice experience for you actually does very little to help people on the ground.

I would advise that you go abroad and see what opportunities are there when you arrive. Or contact local NGOs or schools and ask if they need any help. This cuts out the money making gap year companies.

There is a very good article I have bookmarked on my computer at home that discusses the issues associated with these sorts of companies. I will try and dig it up this evening.

If you have any other questions ask away.

Reply 6

Bananas01

You can make a difference by volunteering in the UK you know...

Reply 7

DH-Biker

Have you thought about the International Citizen's Service?

I'm heading out to Africa for at least three months (might stay for a year) to do volountry work out there. Its costing me £1,000, but the downside is you need to get the application in ASAP and it has to be good.

Still, its a good scheme. :yep:

I'm moving out to Canada afterwards, as I agree, staying in England seems really, really depressing to me. :dry:

Reply 8

Shroob

I agree with the posts saying don't pay a company to organise your experience.

You are paying them to work... doesn't seem quite right to me.

I'm doing a CELTA course in July (teaching english qualification), it costs just over £1,000 but I can earn that back in 1 months teaching - most places offer accomodation, flights, help with visas etc. Sure you have to be wary of the cowboy companies, but a bit of common sense and research should weed these out. There's even jobs in the UK, just seen one advertised for £28-35k per anum pro rata.

Reply 9

gemini89

Get a Working Holiday Visa for Canada, Australia or NZ - the latter two can be applied for online and received within the week.
If you're still stuck on volunteering, then do something in the UK before you leave or take advantage of the stopover on the way to or back from Aus/NZ and go to South-East Asia and find a local volunteering project, which would directly help people rather than paying a middle man to sort it out.

Reply 10

cookiemonster101

Don't waste your time faffing around with "volunteering" experiences and the like, work your butt off, get an awesome degree, do some good work here and then hit up this or British council.

There was an article in the observer, totally destroying the idea of volunteering with horrible stories of children taken from their parents to populate orphanages where white kids pay £1000 to basically traumatise these kids by forming a really close bond with them and then vanishing three months later. If people are really, really serious about making a difference in the world they should be prepared to dedicate their life to the cause and not just a few weeks for the "life changing opportunity"...the whole point is you're meant to be passionate about changing the lives of others...not about changing your own life.